


high school is like the state of the nation

by quibbler



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-02-03
Updated: 2015-03-13
Packaged: 2018-03-10 07:08:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 9,454
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3281402
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/quibbler/pseuds/quibbler
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Leo Fitz, the new kid, moves to town and makes friends with Grant Ward. What Fitz doesn't expect is that Jemma Simmons, the brilliant girl from his physics class, is Ward's younger sister.</p><p>Or the high school AU.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. my new best friend's sibling

**Author's Note:**

> Re-posting all of my Tumblr drabbles as a fic! I own nothing.
> 
> These are not necessarily in chronological order.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is all Jess/plinys' fault!

Ward is tall and two years older and Fitz feels entirely shabby in his new best friend’s shadow, but he’s just glad to have made a friend during the first week of attending a new school. It doesn’t help that he started a few weeks late or that he moved from Glasgow, drawing attention wherever he goes. Secondary school—no, _high school_ , he’s in the States now—is a beast to tackle and sometimes it’s much better with someone to help.

The older boy parks his car in the driveway. “My parents are probably the nicest people you’ll ever meet and they’ll probably treat you like family.” Ward grins, withdrawing the keys from the ignition. “And I have a sister. She’s your age… You might’ve met her already.”

When he walks inside and sees the incredibly pretty girl from his AP Physics class—the _only_ girl from his physics class and the smartest of all of them—leaning against the kitchen counter reading something, Fitz realises that this could be bad. Very bad indeed.

Ward messes up his sister’s hair and she pokes him hard in the side with her elbow as she tries to fix her hair. “Jemma, this is Fitz. He’s new.”

Jemma sticks her tongue out in Ward’s direction. “Stop messing up my hair, Grant.” She turns back to Fitz, placing her magazine down on the counter. “Besides, Fitz is in my physics class. I know who he is.” She waves from where she’s standing and Fitz waves back, trying to come up with something to say and failing quite miserably.

When he and Ward are sitting on the couch, Fitz turns to his friend with a frown. “You don’t look anything like your sister.” _Why didn’t you tell me your sister was so attractive?_  is what he means to ask, but that works, too, he supposes.

Ward shrugs, adjusting the brightness of the screen so the PS3 works properly. “I’m adopted,” he replies, like it’s the simplest explanation in the world. Fitz supposes it is, but he still wishes he had some idea before walking into the house.

He realises he’s in trouble when Jemma starts sitting next to him in Physics.

Ward is going to kill him.


	2. home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The eldest sibling comes home from university and Fitz might be dying of nerves.

Jemma's back is warm against Fitz's chest as they attempt to study for their physics exam, but he is far more distracted dropping kisses into her hair and she's the one that thinks she needs more time with the material, anyway, and he is more than willing to oblige. "Fitz, pay attention," she admonishes, brandishing her notecards and nearly hitting him in the face.

He makes a noise that hopefully communicates surprise. "You really don't need to study, Jem. You're probably going to set the curve as always."

She grins, turning around to face him, pressing a kiss to his cheek. Her mobile buzzes and she frowns, pulling it out of her pocket and reading the message. Before he can look away, she squeaks and he immediately furrows his brow in bewilderment. "Lance is coming home this weekend!"

Fitz's frown only deepens. "Your eldest brother?" She nods, twisting in her seat. The look on her face is all hope and anticipation and excitement and his expression softens when he watches her.

"He hasn't been home all year because he spent his winter holiday studying abroad in South Africa and oh, Fitz, I haven't seen him in such a long time and he's finally going to be home!" She shifts so she's kneeling on the couch cushion and wraps her arms around his shoulders, squeezing as hard as she can. Fitz sputters only slightly. He's happy for her, but there's a part of his thoughts that is devoting itself solely to worrying about how Lance is going to react when he finds out that his youngest sister is dating someone.

Oh, _bollocks_.

\-----

Ward is punching things, which can never be a good sign. Fitz is pretending to lift weights because this was his best friend's choice of activity, so he has resigned himself to embarrassment in front of everyone else. Not that it matters, as there is no one even there. "So, Jemma told me that your brother is coming home this weekend." This has the potential to be a disaster. The probability of disaster is too high for Fitz to even want to analyse, but his traitorous brain does it anyway.

Ward grunts as he throws a particularly hard punch before turning toward Fitz, shrugging. "That's the rumour around the house." Sometimes it's both a blessing and a curse that his best friend is rather taciturn, really.

Fitz fidgets, putting the weights down because his arms are starting to hurt from the effort of pretending to work out. "He's at university, right?"

"Yeah. He's a terrible student, but I think he's passing because he can talk his way out of a paper bag." Another punch and Fitz is ready to ask a million questions until Ward suddenly peers around the other side of the punching bag, a scary grin on his face. "Oh, this is going to be good." Fitz stares. "Lance is a slightly biased third party and won't be afraid to chew you out for dating Jemma. I'm afraid I haven't done my whole brotherly duty, you being my best friend and all."

Fitz wishes Ward had just not said anything. "Oh, _great_."

\-----

This was stupid. He is stupid. Fitz should've stayed home and told the Simmons family that he had to help his mum around the house, but instead here he is at almost _everyone_ 's insistence. Mrs. Simmons, Jemma, Ward... Everyone. He feels like disappearing into the floor.

He supposes he should be glad that he's getting to meet the rarely spoken about member of the family, but he is also terrified. Ward has hazed him enough for dating his younger sister and he can only imagine what Lance is going to say. Fitz is sitting on the front room couch with Ward, trying to focus on World of Warcraft but failing miserably and dying at almost every opportunity he gets. He is hyper-aware of every sound and so when there's a fumbling of keys at the front door, he goes still.

The door opens. "Guess who's home?" The voice is loud and very demanding and Fitz is sort of afraid to turn around.

"Lance!" Mrs. Simmons calls from the kitchen and all Fitz sees out of the corner of his eye is someone moving toward the kitchen. He turns to Ward, who is smirking, and he smacks his best friend's arm.

A stranger exits the kitchen a few minutes later and Fitz gives him a nervous smile. Ward pauses the game and gets up, a grin on his face. "Coming home to be a bad influence on us, huh?" Fitz scrambles to get up, too. "Oh, Lance, this is Fitz, my best friend. Well, he was my best friend until _the betrayal_."

Lance's eyebrows shoot up toward his forehead. "The betrayal? I leave you alone for six months and you've gained a flair for the dramatic."

"All your doing. Maybe I was trying to channel you. And the betrayal--"

" _LANCE!_ " Jemma appears at the top of the stairs and it takes about two-tenths of a second before she is barrelling down the stairs, launching herself into her brother's arms. "You're home!"

"Damn right, I am," he says, hugging Jemma back before putting her back down on the ground. "Ugh, you're getting taller. Stop growing."

She rolls her eyes. "I'm still too short." She turns to Fitz and grins, taking the step toward him and planting a kiss on his mouth. Fitz's eyes stay open in surprise and she turns back to her brother, who seems to have lost function of his jaw. "I'm going to help mum with dinner but then you have to tell me everything, okay? We haven't talked on the phone in _ages_ and you aren't getting away with your fairy tales this time."

As Jemma bounces away toward the kitchen, Fitz gulps. "Now I know what the betrayal was," Lance mutters, turning to Ward, who nods darkly. They both turn to Fitz, who thinks that he could possibly wet his trousers in fear. "I think we need to have a talk, Fitz."


	3. grant's first day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Grant Ward's first day with the Simmons family.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This takes place several years before the first two chapters.

Grant clutches the half-empty suitcase as though it might give him strength. Today is the day that he gets to leave foster care because there is a family that wants him. It still surprises him, but Mr. and Mrs. Simmons are very nice and their daughter Jemma is a bundle of energy who was nearly leaping out of her seat when she came to the orphanage one time. (He doesn't want to ruin this. There's a bubble of hope that sits somewhere in the vicinity of his heart and he really hopes that it doesn't pop.)

The matron knocks once before she enters the room where he is waiting and she is smiling. "Come along, Grant. Your new parents are here."

 _Parents_.

All too soon, he is sitting in the car. He has said "thank you" so many times now and Mrs. Simmons--she keeps telling him to call her _Mum_ , which will take some getting used to and even if he grows accustomed to it, he has to call her Mom--Mrs. Simmons keeps telling him that he doesn't need to thank them. They are thanking him for becoming a part of their family. (He nearly cries on the drive to his new home.)

When they pull into the driveway, he sees a face in the window that doesn't stay in one place, so he doesn't know exactly who it is. He gets out of the car--

"--GRANT!" There's a shout and suddenly a small person has latched herself around his waist.

"Oh, sweetheart, don't do that. Remember what I told you before we left?" Mr. Simmons is frowning at his daughter who doesn't seem to care to turn around. Grant knows that his new parents must know his history and why he ended up in foster care, but they still agreed to adopt him. (He is still baffled.)

He looks down and sees a pair of big brown eyes staring up at him. His new little sister Jemma is beaming at him, her hair half-pulled back but escaping its confines. Grant smiles. "No, it's okay," he murmurs, before wrapping his arms around her shoulders.

She giggles into his shirt. "I'm so happy you're going to be my big brother!" She lets go and pulls back, her hands clasped in front of her as she bounces back and forth on the balls of her feet. "You're only two years older than me, but Lance is five years older than me and he's in _secondary school_ so he thinks he's so big and important, but it took him three hours to finish his maths homework and I snuck a look at it and finished it in under one." Grant is strangely endeared by how much she has managed to say in such a short period of time and he thinks he might like his new sister very much already.

Mrs. Simmons is beaming. "Okay, you two, let's get inside. Jemma, you're not even wearing shoes!"

Jemma shrugs as she skips inside. Grant follows her as best as he can but she is surprisingly fast for someone so tiny. He sets his suitcase by his shoes and looks up. His jaw nearly drops. "Wow." His new house didn't look quite so big from the outside, or perhaps he wasn't paying attention, but he realises just how big it is standing in the foyer. A giant chandelier is hanging from the ceiling that looks about a hundred feet from where he is. There are three floors to the house and he doesn't even know if there's a basement, but there probably is.

His sister is grinning. "You get to pick your room after we give you the tour." She tugs on the arm of who Grant assumes is Lance, his new older brother. Grant stays where he is but Lance is huffing at his younger sister who is blithely ignoring him. "Grant, this is Lance. He is fifteen and really annoying but he's our big brother."

Lance grins. "Welcome to the family." Grant remembers that Lance is Mrs. Simmons' son from her first marriage. "Come on, we've got a lot of space to explore and I bet when we're done, Mum's taking you shopping and you might get away with a small truckload of new stuff."

Grant nods, a smile spreading across his face. "Lead the way."


	4. moving

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jemma is upset she has to move to the states and her brother finds her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Everyone, meet baby Jemma and her big brother Lance.

The last thing Jemma wants to do is to move to the States. She wants to stay home in England and play with her friends and cause minor explosions with the chemistry set her parents bought her for her sixth birthday that she has morphed into a rather legitimate lab. Her parents have promised that she can bring as much as she can pack into her suitcases and whatever doesn't make it will be replaced when they get to their new house. She pouts and cries but she is more grown-up than that, even at six and a half.

The States will be fun. She keeps telling herself this as she folds her clothing neatly, rolling up shirts so they fit better. Her parents trust her enough to let her do this by herself so she won't abuse their trust. She ignores everything else and focuses on how to make everything fit. She has always excelled at this.

It's half an hour before dinner time and Jemma has given up packing. She is sitting with her back to the wall, hugging her knees to her chest when there's a knock on the door.

"Jemma? I told Mum that there were any tiny footsteps coming from your room so she asked me to check up on you." It's her big brother Lance. She loves Lance, really, but sometimes he can be such a dummy.

She huffs and she can almost hear the frown on his face. As ignorant as her big brother can be sometimes, he means well and she does need to talk to someone. "Come in," she calls.

Her brother is eleven and weird-looking (because she says so) and his eyebrows are knitted together in what she thinks must be concern, but it's not an emotion that he must feel often because Jemma thinks he looks a little bit like a confused deer. He frowns. "I can't see you, duck." She makes a face and quacks from her corner. "Ahhh, there you are." He sits down next to her, which is a feat in itself because even though he isn't as tall as Daddy or Mummy, he is still bigger than her. "What's wrong?"

She sighs, leaning her head against his shoulder. "I don't want to move."

He lifts his shoulder slightly and she _humph_ s at him. "You're gonna have to get up at some point, duck. I know you're hungry."

"That's not what I meant!"

He laughs and then he isn't laughing. "Listen, Jemma, I know moving is scary. I had to move from my dad's place here and as much as I love Mum, living in a new house is still big and frightening and everything. We're going to a new country, but we'll get through it together, yeah?"

She turns her head up to look at him and maybe her eyes are a little wet. "What if I'm not good enough?" Her voice is small and quiet and doesn't echo like it usually does in her room.

He taps her on the nose with a finger. "Hey, you're better than everyone and always will be. Now, let's finish packing, yeah?"


	5. growing pains

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Grant is going through a growth spurt and his siblings are children.

Grant feels very out of place in his body right now, partially because his siblings are trying to out-British each other at the moment and partially because this thing called puberty exists and he really hates it. His voice keeps cracking and it's making him want to speak even less, which Jemma says is humanly impossible, but the worst part is that he seems to be growing at an alarming speed, which Jemma also says is normal but his bones are disagreeing vehemently.

"They're just shin splints, Grant. Your skeleton is just adjusting to your growth spurt." Jemma is reading some book that is way over his head and it is so unfair that his whole body hurts and especially his limbs and his little sister gets to stay tiny.

He grits his teeth. "Why did I have to grow six inches in three months?" He really wants to smash his head against the table but Mom said no about sixteen times in the last three hours so he really shouldn't. "Lance, did this happen to you?"

Lance scoffs, sliding his feet off of the table right as Mom turns around to avoid another lecture. "Nah, mate, have you seen how tall I am? I grow slowly and then not at all."

"Lance is tiny like me!" Jemma pipes up from her seat, smiling beatifically so Lance can't even get upset with her. She giggles and turns back to the homework she's pretending to complete even though Grant is 200% positive that she finished it twenty minutes ago but just doesn't want to do any of her chores. "Oh! Grant, now that you're tall, you can give me piggyback rides! Lance is rubbish at them because he's short."

"Oy, you're about the size of my thumb, duck, no complaining."

"You're supposed to be tall, Lance, you're the _oldest_."

Grant groans as loudly as he can and they both turn to stare at him. "As I'm the injured one in this house, can I _please_ request you two stop arguing over each other?"

Jemma stares before shrugging and turning to stick her tongue out at Lance. "I cannot believe I have to put up with both of you as my younger siblings."

"You don't act like the eldest anyway, brother dearest, so stop pretending like you're the most mature."

Grant's siblings are actually having a fight to see who is the most childish. He doesn't know what to do so he just smacks his forehead against the table.

"Grant! What did I tell you? Stop doing that, please!"

"Sorry, Mom."


	6. the new babysitter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Simmons household hires a babysitter. Grant is not impressed.

"Jemma darling, will you come downstairs?"

She picks up a bookmark and places it carefully in her new book before setting it down on her desk, tearing down the staircase. "Whoa, Jemma, slow down." She nearly runs into Grant at the bottom of the stairs, his arms braced to keep her from bowling him over. "Glad I caught you or I'd be steam-rollered on the floor."

She sticks out her tongue but then smirks at him before turning to find her mother standing in the front room with someone she doesn't recognise. "Jemma, Grant, this is Bobbi, your new babysitter. I know that you're both old enough to not need someone to watch over you, but she's here in case there's an emergency."

"Mummy, isn't Lance old enough to take care of us?" Jemma is frowning and Grant isn't exactly sure what is going on. Bobbi looks taller than he is, which is already kind of cool but he thinks if he keeps growing, he'll be taller than her in a year if she's still around. He frowns then, too, because Jemma makes a good point.

"Yes, duck, but Lance is in secondary school--high school--and has a job, so Bobbi is going to be here from time to time to help keep an eye on you if we're not home."

Grant nods and so does Jemma, and then Mrs. Simmons kisses them both on their cheeks before she heads off for work. Bobbi claps her hands together. "So, Jemma and Grant, right?"

Jemma nods, smiling shyly as she steps closer to Grant. "Did Mummy tell you to help us with our homework?" Bobbi nods and Jemma's smile turns into something more mischievous. "Well, you don't have to help me. I finish all of my homework early and I'm two years ahead of everyone in my classes. At least."

Bobbi looks impressed. "Well, pipsqueak, I guess you're off the hook for homework, but your mom tells me you don't like doing dishes."

Grant laughs into his sleeve and Bobbi turns an eye on him, her eyebrows raised. "And you don't like doing laundry." He stops laughing and drops his arm, feeling his cheeks redden. "Well, you two are in luck because I'm going to help you this once and then if you can get your chores done in time, you'll both get ice cream."

"You're only four years older than me," Grant says, trying to gauge her age. She looks about the same age as Lance, but Lance is also trying to grow a terrible beard thing that makes him look really weird. "I don't think ice cream works as a bribe."

Jemma scoffs and he turns to look down at her. She shrugs. "Ice cream is a good enough bribe for me, Grant."

Bobbi grins. "I've got one of you on board." She bends down to give Jemma a high five and Jemma jumps slightly to slap her hand against Bobbi's. The babysitter turns her head up toward Grant, one eyebrow raised. "Come on, Grant, I'll let you play video games if we get everything done. Maybe I'll even let you win."

He thinks for a moment before sticking out his hand. She stands up, several inches taller than him, a grin on her face as she takes his hand and he shakes it firmly. "It's a deal."


	7. overprotective, my arse

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance and Grant try to be big brothers and fail miserably.
> 
> Immediately follows chapter 2, home.

He is completely going to die.

Fitz is sitting in front of Jemma's brothers and Ward is a traitor. Or Ward thinks he's a traitor for dating his sister, at least, but Ward has said all he'll ever say on the subject to Fitz unless it's a silent jab in mirth. Lance, on the other hand, is trying to play the part of older brother and Fitz has seen enough movies to know that he isn't exactly practised in this and he's probably quoting films more than actually coming up with his own threats, but it's still scaring Fitz nonetheless.

Lance is about to open his mouth again when Jemma comes back into the front room. He snaps his jaw shut and he and Ward try to look as innocent as possible. Jemma looks at them both suspiciously and when she turns to see just how scared Fitz looks, probably pale and shaking, her impeccable eyebrows knit themselves together and she rounds on her brothers. "Are you two _honestly_ interrogating Fitz right now? Really?!"

Ward has the decency to look sheepish but Lance looks offended. "Oy, go on, duck, I was trying to defend your honour--"

"-- _defend my honour_? I CAN TAKE CARE OF MYSELF, YOU TWATS." Lance winces. Fitz is too nervous to laugh. "HONESTLY, I LOVE YOU BOTH DEARLY BUT YOU'RE BOTH IDIOTS. I AM A GROWN WOMAN WHO CAN MAKE HER OWN DECISIONS, THANK YOU VERY MUCH."

"You're sixteen, Jem," Ward says in the smallest voice that Fitz has ever heard him use, or anyone use.

Jemma makes a rude gesture in her brothers' direction as she crosses the room and reaches for Fitz's hand. "Come on, Fitz, we're going upstairs." Fitz stands up and might be frozen on the spot if it wasn't for his girlfriend's insistence as she stands on her tiptoes to kiss him soundly before rounding on Lance and Ward once more. "And if either of you have anything to say, you say it to my face. Defending my honour, honestly, I've never heard anything so _stupid_ in my _life_."

When they get upstairs, Jemma slams the door behind them and Fitz stays standing by it as she collapses onto her bed. "You're amazing," he manages, staring at her like he's never seen her properly.

She turns onto her side and grins. "Really, though, I'm sorry my brothers think that they need to be all macho when I'm sixteen and have a serious boyfriend. Now I need to spray their rooms with the fruitiest perfume I own to get back at them."

Fitz scoffs. "A grown woman." He gets a pillow to the face.


	8. duck

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jemma wants to know why Lance calls her duck, and she tries to come up with a name for Grant.

Lance is trying to do his homework so Jemma really shouldn't be bothering him, but she finished hers hours ago and she is so bored. It's time for another round of questions. "Lance, why do you call me duck?"

He huffs in the general direction of his grammar textbook that he is decidedly not reading like he's supposed to be before he looks up at her. Her big brother is funny like that sometimes. "Didn't I ever tell you about when you were still a baby?"

She shakes her head so vigorously that her hair goes flying around her head and she giggles slightly as she sways from how out of equilibrium she is. "Never." She waits patiently, eyes wide as her big brother looks around for any sight of their parents.

"Okay, maybe I can take another break." Jemma tries not to frown because he really hasn't done any work and Mummy told her not to interrupt him, but she really wants to know. "When you were still in your crib, Mummy had loads of toys for you in a biiiiig box and I found this big stuffed duck somewhere at the bottom. It was so big that I couldn't get it over the bars and I had to throw it into the corner where you weren't lying in and I turned around to find more toys and then all I heard was this little quack."

Jemma grins. "Did I quack then, too?"

Lance laughs, picking up the textbook like he means to read it but she knows better. "You certainly did. So you've been little duck ever since."

\-----

Grant is taller than she is and much quieter, but she likes to sit next to her new brother and read. He doesn't even seem to be annoyed by how many interesting facts she shares which is so much better than Lance because he makes faces and pretends to fall asleep when she tells him how many scales make up the average butterfly wing. Her new brother has dark hair that doesn't look like hers and it makes him stare at himself in the mirror a little too long until she tells him that all he needs is a haircut and he'll be good as new.

She is sitting in the biggest armchair exactly eleven days after Grant joins their family and she watches as he works on his English homework with his brows furrowed in concentration. Lance is sprawled on his stomach on the couch, playing some dumb video game that involves a lot of shooting and hiding and blood on the screen and even more yelling and whining from her brother.

"Duck," she mutters under her breath before speaking up. "Lance, is Grant a duck, too? Because I'm a duck, but you're not. You're just silly."

Lance pauses his game and turns to look at her with a weird expression clouding his features. "Jem, you're the duck. It's not something that we call people, just you."

Her face falls slightly. "Oh." She chews her lip in thought before she brightens again. "Then we just have to find another animal for Grant!"

Lance snorts so hard that it sounds like it hurts, but just to be sure, she throws a pillow at him.

\-----

The shelter is very loud and Grant looks a little jumpy, but Jemma is excited and knows that her brother is, too. He is as excited as she was in the car, bouncing in her seat and rattling off as many domestic animal facts as she could before Lance put his hand over her mouth to shut her up, Ward was even more excited. He may not have been vocal about it, but she could see how his face lit up when Mum and Dad told them they were going to the shelter to pick out a dog.

The first dog they see is so big that Jemma thinks she could maybe sit on him and he wouldn't feel it, but Grant bends down to say hi and scratch him behind the ears. Each dog gets at least five minutes of Grant talking and petting and Jemma realises they haven't even asked to meet one of the dogs in a play room yet. This is going to take _forever_.

Instead, a thought comes to mind and she grins, bending down to say hello to the next dog. "Grant, I think you're a puppy."

Grant turns to her with a faintly amused smile on his face. "And why is that?"

She tilts her head and looks at him for a moment before turning back to the dog, scratching behind the dog's ears. "You like dogs more than you like most people, I think."

He is silent and she thinks maybe she said something wrong but then he starts chuckling quietly. " _Arf_." He barks. He actually _barks_ and nudges Jemma with one shoulder and she giggles.

"So which ones are we meeting?"


	9. scarred for life

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Grant and Jemma have only a few shared experiences, but their older brother and the babysitter soon change that.

Grant really needs to not have that image in his memories. At all.

He was just trying to get new towels from the closet because Buddy needed two separate baths because of how terrible he smelled and now all of the towels he had originally grabbed are soaked through as well as the ones he uses for himself, but he doesn't mind. He likes giving the dogs baths and the rest of his family is more than willing to let him take that task off of their hands.

No, what he didn't want to see was his older brother and the _babysitter_ eating each other's faces in the closet. He shut the door before he could even register what was happening, which was probably for the best.

Now he feels like he needs to wash his eyes with soap.

\-----

The house is almost always immaculate. Jemma's parents are very neat and orderly most of the time unless the whole family is rushing out of the house, trying to pile into their respective cars, flipping through belongings to find something long filed away. But the mess is always cleaned as soon as someone is free. Grant owns few personal possessions even though the Simmons' have offered him time and time again enough money to buy anything he wants. He likes his room tidy and Jemma knows that he keeps all of his bath products in a neat row. He folds his own laundry almost better than she does.

Jemma herself likes to have everything as organised as possible. She colour codes her closet and organises it by item type. Each class gets a separate folder and notes and exams are colour coded for future use. She keeps everything in drawer separators and takes inventory of her belongings from time to time so she remembers exactly where everything is.

Lance, however, is an entirely different story.

Her big brother has never been like the rest of her family. Even when they lived in England, she remembers tripping over his messes in the front room or in the halls and Mum and Dad were always yelling at him to clean up, which he did... Eventually. It took him two weeks to clear up a pile of dirty laundry and he only managed to kick the entire thing into his room after Mum told him that if he didn't clean it up _this instant_ , she would burn the lot.

Now that he's home from college for the weekend, it's much the same sort of story. It's only two days but somehow Lance seems to have dumped the entire contents of his suitcase onto the floor and made it migrate up the stairs and land partially into his room. Jemma can't find her own textbooks and she thinks that they've probably ended up in his mess somewhere, but she is loathe to go ask him before she looks around the house for them herself.

She starts in the front room, where the mess is significantly larger than usual, but not nearly as terrible as the second floor hallway where Lance's room is. She flips through papers and wrappers and discarded plastic bottles but doesn't see them amidst the DVDs and comic books. After twenty minutes, she gives up and moves onto the kitchen.

The kitchen is a safe zone because Mum never lets anyone leave things on the table, but she figures she'd check anyway. "Mum, have you seen the textbooks I brought home for the weekend?"

"No, darling, but I'm sure there around here somewhere."

The next stop is the sitting room where Grant is sitting at a desk, trying to build a mousetrap car because he saw Jemma doing it and thought it would be fun. She tries not to smile too much as she sneaks up behind him. "Heya, Grant," she says, and he jumps slightly before spinning around in the seat, glaring at her. "How's the project going?"

His expression softens, one corner of his mouth turning up before he spins back around to tinker with the clothes hanger he's stretched out. "Slowly." He wheels back around, frowning. "What are you looking for?"

She shrugs, arms crossed over her chest. "My textbooks. I think Lance's stuff ate them." She makes a face and Grant laughs.

"I think your best bet is to just ask him. He knows his mess better than any of us ever could."

Jemma nods, moving to leave the room before she stops to turn around again. "Try bigger wheels. It'll cover more distance."

He smiles. "Thanks, Jem."

She climbs the stairs two at a time, not noticing any stacks of books covered by dirty clothing on the steps. Maybe she should check Lance's room.

"LANCE! LANCE, DO YOU HAVE MY TEXTBOOKS?" There is no response so she steps into the pile of clothes outside of his room and pushes open the door--

"--OH MY GOD!" She slams the door shut and backs into the railing behind her. The last thing she ever wanted to see was her older brother half-naked in bed with _Bobbi_. She doesn't want to know how her brother and her babysitter got together but she knows that Bobbi has been around their house for years and logically it falls into place.

But logic is precisely what she _doesn't_ want to pay attention to, not when she currently feels like she needs to find bleach for her eyeballs. "LANCE HUNTER, LOCK YOUR BLOODY DOOR NEXT TIME YOU DECIDE YOU'RE GOING TO HAVE SEX WITH MY OLD BABYSITTER, PLEASE."

She makes faces and disgusted noises the entire way down the stairs, shuddering as she stops by Grant's desk. "Grant, I've just witnessed the most traumatising sight of my short lifespan of sixteen years."

Her brother raises an eyebrow. "I heard. I think there might be a house five miles from here that doesn't know Lance and Bobbi are together thanks to you."

Jemma gags and squeezes her eyes shut. "The whole world needs to know so they can share in my suffering. Is there a way to get that image out of one's head?"

Grant shakes his head solemnly. "Afraid not. I walked in on them making out in the towel closet upstairs once."

There's a moment of silence before Jemma glares at him in disbelief. "And you didn't think to tell me so I wouldn't have to go through something like this?" She reaches over to smack his arm with the back of her hand with all the strength she can muster and he jumps and winces. She is proud of herself for a split second before she reverts back to disbelief. "You could've at least _warned_ me. It's traumatising for the baby of the family to find her eldest brother in bed with a trusted figure of authority."

He shrugs, tossing a CD he had considered using for a wheel into the air before catching it again. "I didn't think they'd still be together after this many years. I think it was almost four years ago when I caught them?"

She scoffs. "Knowing the two of them, it's probably not a constant thing." She blanches and her eyes go wide. "Oh god, Grant, if you ever have anyone over, please tell me so I can leave the house and go stay at Fitz's because I don't need to accidentally walk in on you, too."

He scrunches his nose in disgust. "And you don't think it's going to be traumatising if we ever walk in on you and Fitz? He's my best friend, Jemma, I really don't need to see you two--just keep it at his place." He shakes his head and buries his face in one hand. "God, I cannot even believe that we're having this conversation."

Jemma laughs as she walks away. "Have fun working on your mousetrap car, Grant!"


	10. a peaceful moment ruined

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance is home from uni and everyone is relaxing, but Jemma has another idea.

In some stroke of luck, Lance is home for longer than two days and so is Bobbi, and so the house is currently bustling with additional people. Jemma is sitting shoulder to shoulder with Fitz squeezed into an armchair as they hold a rather boisterous and adamant argument about a chemistry problem and she is trying to prove a point even though her fingers are entwined with his and he is staring at her like she's the sun. Bobbi is sitting on the floor sorting out stacks of magazines for Mrs. Simmons, and Lance is sitting with his back against the armrest of the couch, legs stretched out in front of him as he watches the TV screen intently, facing Grant in a video game of some sort. (Jemma doesn't understand the fascination, really, especially when the game just involves loads of shooting and no real strategy.) Grant is in the other armchair, ducking the occasional projectile being thrown at him from Lance's vantage point.

Jemma rolls her eyes at the scene in front of her before she turns to press a kiss to Fitz's cheek. He flushes faintly pink and it still makes her grin mischievously every time. "I'm going to get a glass of water, Fitzy. Do you want anything?" He shakes his head and she reluctantly lets go of his hand.

When she returns, she realises that there is a perfectly wonderful opportunity presented in front of her. Lance is facing away from the kitchen and everyone else can see it if they choose to and so Jemma places the glass of water on the counter and begins to walk as quietly as she can across the room. Not that she really needs to, of course, because Lance is so caught up in this particular game that he could probably ignore the entirety of a loud thunderstorm and not realise it had rained until he stepped outside hours later to find wet pavement.

She holds up her finger to her mouth when Grant looks up, bewilderment crossing his face as he momentarily loses focus on the screen. He nods once before letting his character attack with renewed force, egging their eldest brother on to distract him.

She gets as close as she possibly can, to a point where she can breathe down his neck before she turns toward his ear. " _QUACK_."

Lance drops his controller and shoots about a foot into the air from his spot on the couch and topples over onto the floor where Bobbi has the mercifully quick reflexes to move toward Fitz's feet instead. Jemma jumps back, trying to control peals of laughter. She wants to be dignified and stand straight like nothing is wrong, like she didn't do anything, but she's too busy shrieking with laughter at the look on her brother's face as he tries to clamor back onto the couch with some semblance of dignity. It doesn't work. Ward has given up the video game entirely and looks as though he stopped breathing, if how red in the face he's gone is anything to go by, his shoulders shaking with laughter and tears streaming down his face.

Bobbi is cackling and Jemma gives her a thumbs up as she tries to stand up and recover completely. Not a particularly easy feat. Lance looks wounded. "OY, duck, that was really fucking rude!"

Jemma shrugs and gives him a beatific smile despite her watery eyes and muscles that seem to be failing her and trying to make her laugh. "I haven't the slightest idea what you're talking about, brother dearest." She makes her way back to her seat and half-sits on Fitz's lap, who wraps one arm around her waist and is frowning when she turns to look at him. "What?"

He shakes his head. "You're all a bunch of loons." Fitz is laughing despite his words and Jemma pokes him in the side a few times until he is actually laughing and squirming away from her. (A difficult feat, as she is still half sitting on top of him.) "Stop, stop!" He is wheezing and she relents, dropping her head against his temple. "I cannot believe I got roped into this madness."

She grins, tilting his head up toward hers with her fingers curled beneath his chin. "Oh, please, Fitz. You enjoy this ridiculous behaviour far more than you let on."

He sighs, pouting slightly. "Exactly what I was afraid of."


	11. nicknames

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fitz tries to work out why Jemma is _Duck_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the last of the old drabbles, so hopefully new material will be coming soon.

Jemma is curled up under Fitz's covers in her pyjamas, grinning up at her boyfriend who is attempting to continue studying for his history exam. He is reading the textbook and there's a notebook over his lap. "Really, Jem, I don't know why you wouldn't let me just finish studying at my desk and then I can go to sleep later."

She shrugs, yawning widely before speaking. "I like falling asleep next to you, even if you are trying to get work done. And I promise, zero distractions from me unless you initiate it."

He looks down with a frown, though the blush on his cheeks gives him away as she grins cheekily at him. She clears her throat and looks pointedly at his study material and he lets out a small _oh_ before putting on the pretense of studying. It takes another ten minutes before he speaks again and Jemma is getting closer and closer to falling asleep. "Jem?"

"Hmm?" She tries to rouse herself enough so she can pay attention to him but still stay in her comfortable position and fall back asleep as soon as possible. "What is it, Fitzy?"

She doesn't look up at him, so when his hand rests against her head and his fingers start to thread through her hair, she thinks she might've jumped if she had been more awake. Instead, she makes a noise that should indicate contentment as she snuggles as close to him as she can manage without actually being in his lap. "Why does your brother call you 'duck'?"

Jemma finally gets her eyes to cooperate as she turns her head up toward him, blinking rapidly. "What?"

"Lance calls you duck."

Her brain is firing too slowly so her responses are slow and lazy. "Ohhhh, _that_ brother. Apparently when I was a baby, he found this massive stuffed duck in my toys and proceeded to chuck it into the pram and he turned away to look for more toys to placate me, I quacked."

Fitz watches her with some confusion etched into his features. "You quacked?" She nods. "So, what I'm getting from this story is that you've been brilliant since infancy and you have some inclination toward animal noises."

Jemma chuckles into the blanket. "Both parts of that statement have been confirmed, Fitz. They've been confirmed rather soundly, might I add."

She can almost imagine the pout that he's giving her so instead she reaches out to poke his side with one well-placed jab and he nearly falls out of his bed trying to escape her and failing miserably. "Jesus, Jem, don't do that."

She relents and heaves a prolonged sigh before her brain begins to fade in and out again. She feels him shifting around and thinks that maybe he's putting his textbook and notes away for the night and when the light goes out and he joins her under the blankets, she knows that her assumption was correct. "Done studying?"

She can see him smiling with her one eye open. "Yeah, I think I'm done for the night. Besides, sleep is supposed to be restorative, right? And what better way to recharge than to have a sleepover with my girlfriend?"

She snorts gently before scooting closer to him. "Now you've got the right idea, Fitz."


	12. the oldest

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fitz meets Jemma's other half-brother. He's rather terrified.

For someone as completely head over heels about his girlfriend as he is, Fitz isn't sure that he can take any more of these stressful meetings with family members. Jemma gives his hand a squeeze over the center console, the other hand on the steering wheel, and Fitz squeezes back. "Jem, how many brothers do you have, exactly?" His voice gives away his anxiety and Jemma chuckles.

"Three. They're all older than me, unfortunately, which means I get to be the baby sister to three incredibly irritating brothers but I also know how to get out of everything and anything with my parents."

"Not that you use that tactic often."

"Only when absolutely necessary," she replies, grinning.

Fitz sighs, staring up at the house. "So no more brothers to spring on me? I'm about ready to melt into the floor from fear."

She turns off the engine, laughing. "Come on, Fitz, Steven really does want to meet you." She exits the car, letting go of his hand.

He scrambles to get the passenger side door open. "That wasn't an answer to my question!" he calls, but Jemma is already bounding toward the front door.

\-----

There are pictures on the wall of a blonde-haired boy with his mother and a few of the same boy several years older watching a baby crawling on the floor. Fitz assumes that the baby is Jemma and he tries not to smile too much because it would conflict with the anxiety dancing somewhere near his stomach.

Jemma nudges his arm with her shoulder. "Steven used to be ridiculously skinny and then puberty hit him like a load of bricks and he's sort of massive now. He used to give me piggyback rides all the time."

Fitz turns toward her, dropping a kiss to her forehead. "Of course your brother would be gigantic. Nothing is ever easy with you in my life," he teases, trying to convince himself this isn't a big deal. She wraps her arms around his waist for what he thinks is comfort.

"Aren't you two a picture?" The voice comes from Fitz's left and he almost knocks his head against Jemma's when he turns to see a blonde, blue-eyed, inhumanly muscled man standing with his hands on his waist. He thinks this must be Jemma's brother, though his physique doesn't seem to make sense. "Hi, Jemma." His shoulders are impossibly wide. Isn't that against the laws of nature?

Jemma lets go of Fitz, beaming as she rushes toward her brother who catches her and spins her around, just narrowly avoiding knocking a vase to the ground with Jemma's feet. When she finally has two feet on the ground and Fitz's heart is no longer leaping into his throat, she sighs. "I still can't believe you can lift me that easily, Steven."

Steven laughs. "You're still tiny, so it's not a stretch. Shouldn't you be introducing me?"

Fitz freezes, catching Jemma's eye. "Steven, this is Leo Fitz, my boyfriend. Fitz, this is my brother Steven Rogers."

\-----

Fitz finds out that Jemma is likely the only person who calls her brother Steven. He insists that Fitz call him Steve, and thankfully he doesn't ask why Fitz prefers his last name. Steve puts down the drinks on the table before clapping a hand to Fitz's shoulder. "So, kid, Jemma tells me you're in the same AP Physics class."

Fitz nods, fighting the urge to call him sir. "Though I couldnt really--couldn't really talk to her, to be honest."

Jemma makes a noise that he doesn't quite understand, but Steve seems to. "He's the most intelligent person in that class--aside from me, of course--so really it was a matter of time before we started talking." She pauses, reaching for her glass of water. "Well, that and the fact that he's best friends with Grant."

Steve snorts into his water. "Sorry. You can relax, Fitz, I'm not Grant or Hunter, although I can't see either of them giving you much of a hard time when this firecracker is around."

Jemma rolls her eyes. "I can take care of myself, no thanks to all of you idiots." Fitz knows that she means it affectionately, but there is a distinct truth in their words--Jemma would never let any of her brothers be seriously overprotective. She's quite efficient that way. "Besides, I give Fitz a hard time on my own."

Fitz chokes on his soda.

\-----

"I'll see you both soon, I'm sure."

Jemma beams at her brother. "Bye, Steven!" She starts walking toward the car, one hand holding Fitz's hand and tugging him forward, the other waving back at Steve. "I'll call you!"

When they get in the car, Fitz lets out a breath he didn't realise he had been holding. "He's not going to show up at my house ready to punch my lights out, is he?"

She laughs, leaning over the console to press a kiss to his cheek. "He's harmless, really, at least to the rest of the family. Well, as long as you don't have arguments with him. The four of us in an argument could probably level a house."

Fitz shakes his head. "And that's where I'd stay far, far away."

"Not tonight, though. You're sleeping over."

He suddenly remembers a part of the conversation that he wanted to forget ever happened and groans loudly. "Jemma, you know you made a horribly embarrassing innuendo in front of your brother, right?"

She grins, mischief etched into her features. "I have no idea what you're talking about, Fitzy."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some quick notes on this pieced together family!
> 
> • Using Jemma as a reference: Grant is 2 years older, Lance is 5 years older, Steve is 7-8 years older.  
> • Lance is Jemma's half-brother on her mother's side and has his dad's last name--his mother and father were never married. His father calls him Lancelot. His parents met in England.  
> • Steve is Jemma's half-brother on her father's side and has his mom's last name--his parents were married previously. His parents met in the States (mom is an Irish immigrant), and following the divorce, Steve stayed with his mother in the States and his father went back home to the UK. Steve lives on his own but visits home to take care of his mother.  
> •Grant's family history includes abuse, which is how he ended up in foster care. I haven't quite decided how much to include in this universe, so bear with me.


	13. the black sheep

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance Hunter really doesn't want to do this, but it's time he played the part of ideal older brother. Needless to say, it fails spectacularly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lance Hunter, human disaster. Comments are always appreciated!

At the age of 12, Lance Hunter feels like he should be a good example to his little sister. His mum is constantly telling him that since he's older, he should be telling and showing Jemma how to "be a productive member of society," whatever that's supposed to mean. Every time he insists that his step-brother is doing a perfectly good job of it and that he needs to show her what _not_ to do, his mum glares at him and his step-dad tries not to laugh.

"But _Mum_ , Steve is turning 15 this year. Can't he be the good example? I'm technically the middle child so I'm allowed to be the black sheep." Lance crosses his arms over his chest, knowing that maybe he's acting like a child, but sometimes his mum just won't listen to him.

"Do you even know what that means, Lance?" He pauses, racking his brain for a few seconds before shaking his head. His step-dad is trying not to laugh behind his newspaper, but the sound of shaking paper indicates his failed attempt. His mum sighs. "Lance, darling, at least try. Jemma is very mature for her age, but she still learns a lot from you because you both live under this roof." She pauses, watching him with a stern eye. "Unless you want me to get your father to phone you."

The last thing Lance wants is to hear his dad call him Lancelot and then tell him to behave because he hears it enough from his mum. He heaves his shoulders and slouches in his seat as he finishes his breakfast. "Where is Jemma anyway?"

"She should be in her room reading," his step-dad says, mirth written all over his face as he puts the newspaper down. "She beat you to breakfast over an hour ago, son."

Lance makes a face as he pushes his chair away from the table. "She always does. Thanks, Dad Two."

\-----

Jemma is indeed in her room, but her books are scattered over the floor and she seems to be reading a textbook to her stuffed animals. Lance tries not to sigh. "Hey, duck, whatcha doing?"

She pauses her narration long enough to quack before finishing up what must be a paragraph, turning toward him with a smile. "Hi, Lance! I was reading about RNA transcription." He tries not to stare in disbelief. He constantly forgets that his 7-year-old sister is a genius, but he loves her more for it. "Did you just wake up or did you eat breakfast already?"

He flops onto her bed, causing her to giggle behind a hand. "I got up early today. Aren't you proud?" She nods and he grins. "Mum keeps telling me I need to be a good influence on you."

She stops laughing and squints at him for far too long, long enough to make him uncomfortable as he sits back up. "Is Mummy okay? I don't think it's _possible_ for you to be a good influence." He throws a stuffed camel at her and she squeals in protest. "See? Don't throw my toys!"

He sighs. "I guess I'll have to show you I can be a good role model."

\-----

"You've got to teach her something. Jemma's a good student, right? Isn't that the best way to show her your chops?"

"Yeah, but what?"

"There's the notes I gave you last week..."

"... Oh my _GOD_ , Izzy, really?"

\-----

Jemma is pretending to do homework at her desk that she finished last week, instead using her old chemistry set to create precipitates. There is a knock on her door and she quacks, knowing that it must be Lance. The door opens. "You're not going to blow me up, are you?" He asks, apprehension tinging his voice.

She sticks her tongue out at him before turning back to her impromptu experiment. "Not accidentally."

He apparently takes that to mean he can come in safely, so he shuts the door behind him. "Guess what? I'm going to teach you about something."

Jemma's hand freezes as she reaches for one of the test tubes. "What?" She wheels around on her chair, frowning. " _You_ , teaching _me_? Lance, is the world ending?"

He gives her a rude hand gesture, the memory of which she stores for blackmail purposes. "I'm trying to be a good big brother." She waves a hand at him, capping her test tubes so she can listen. "Oh, you're actually cooperating?"

She grins. "I'm full of surprises."

He pulls out a wad of paper that she thinks might be notes, which is already concerning. They've only been in the states for a year and she knows her brother isn't exactly the best student, and if there are notes involved in this lesson he wants to teach, he must be very determined. "Izzy gave me notes a few weeks ago. This is supposed to be something Mum and Dad Two talk about with you."

She frowns. "Oh no, Lance, what are you on about?"

"Do you know how babies are made?"

\-----

"Lance, if you can't call it a penis--"

"--I never want to hear that word coming out of my little sister's mouth ever again."

" _Penis_."

"Why do I even try?!"

"Doesn't Izzy only like girls? I don't think she's an expert on this part."

"That's it, the lesson is over."

"I'll just go to the library!"

\-----

Really, they should be more concerned that their 7-year-old daughter is reading books about reproduction and sexuality, but Jemma is a precocious, bright child and somehow it's far more entertaining that Lance has tried to teach her this particular subject, especially now. Punishment is hardly needed.

Lance is half-asleep, trying to bring his spoonful of cereal to his lips and not entirely succeeding, while Jemma has a book open so that only she can see it, reading intently. "Lance, did you know that the uterus can expand--"

"--bloody hell, will I never be able to escape this torture?"

"You brought this down on yourself, Lance."

He groans loudly and tries to cover his ears and eat his cereal at the same time as Jemma continues to spout facts. "This is going to be a very long morning, Mum," he whines, and she tries not to smirk at her son's vexation.


End file.
